To get us started I wanted to throw out some broad concept ideas, and how I hope they'll work with the orchestrations. These thoughts are my concept of Sweeney, and they will be key to my direction. My hope is that they also help you in designing and conceiving this show.
For me Sweeney Todd is a horror story based around themes of class oppression & injustice.
The setting for Todd is one of the grungiest and grimiest sections of London in the 1800's, a place where the outcasts and criminals mingle, away from the high society of the Judge, the Beadle and Joanna. The homeless and destitute will constitute the ensemble of Todd, and within this group we will find the Beggar Woman, Pirrelli, Toby, and our other features parts.
Todd himself is the embodiment of the disenfranchised, abused to the point of madness. The fulfillment of this insanity is his murder of his wife (Beggar Woman), his lover (Lovett), and the attempted murder of his daughter (Lucy). Lovett is the embodiment of the delusion of social mobility. She uses the same lies and deceit of the upper class to try and become respectable.
What does all this mean?
For the music, I would like to pursue a pared down sound similar the 2005 revival cast. In my mind this is a jazz style quintet that features a piano, bass, percussion, and then brass, wind or additional string accompaniment. I am aware this may not be feasible, but I would like to spend some time exploring it with a musical director.
You can see the 2005 revival cast with their instruments, towards the bottom of this page: http://www.sondheimguide.com/sweeney.html
You can listen to the recording on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLF8036DFA44AE4871
For Set, I would like to attempt a unit set that represents the streets of London, particularly Fleet Street. I do believe that a working chair is essential to Sweeney, but I have some thoughts on how to achieve this simply. I have a number of images that I can share, is there a preferred way to pass this information on? I have worked with production blogs, Google drive, Dropbox, and various other systems, so just let me know what works.
Relating to set & musicians, I would like the musicians to be present onstage throughout the show. Ideally as a sort of street band.
As we put together the creative team, I'd love to work with people interested in realizing these concepts. I hope this helps!
Best,
Dusty Brown
